Talk show with Ms. Ambika Kamal, Theatre Actor & Director, Mumbai on the topic ‘Exploring Theatre’

Objective of the Talk : The objective of the talk was to make the students aware about Theatre and How Theatre can help them in their life in expressing themselves, To inspire them to follow the path of their dreams and to give insights about the journey of a Young Theatre Director Ambika Kamal from Himachal Pradesh.

Overall Report of the activity - IISU Theatrical Society, COSD Theatre studies, ICG-IISU Alumnae Association - Bandhan and Rotary Club Jaipur- Gurukul are organising 4 days talk series on Theatre. This talk session was the first session of this series started with the basic introduction by Ms.Mumal Tanwar and further moderated by her. After the Introduction, She talked about the objective of the talk.   Objective behind inviting a young woman director was to inspire students through her Journey. Our Speaker Ambika Kamal is a Mumbai-Based Theatre Actor and Director. Has been performing and directing devised plays from decade now.. Graduate from Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, Chandigarh.  Started her theatre journey from her hometown Solan ,Himachal Pradesh and its been decade now. She has been associated with Sanskrit drama also. Her new work  is "Kirtan" written by her and which was supported by Jawahar kala kendra,Jaipur.  Currently working with Padam Shri Dr.  Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry's Theatre Repertory "The Company.”  She has been working with devising technique of theatre, in which one doesn’t need script. They work with ideas, IISU Theatrical society’s members are already working on a lot of social issues through theatre so it was interesting for students to interact with an expert of such form. Talk was designed in a way that students can connect and relate with the speaker and her journey.  We have started the talk by showcasing Ms.Ambika Kamal’s work to students after then Ms. Ambika Kamal shared with students that how she started doing theatre, How she moved to Mumbai to pursue theatre from a small village of Himachal Pradesh. She said,”Meeting Great mentors really shaped her vision in life.” She told students that even when she is not doing any play, she doesn’t skip her vocal and physical exercises because for an actor, it’s important to take care of body like an instrument. In the end a student asked her a very beautiful question that, ‘Being a girl was it difficult for her to follow the path of her passion’?  

Ms.Ambika summed up the talk by saying an impactful sentence that woman thinks that she is the most important brick in the wall of a house and she thinks if she is going to do something, this entire wall is going to fall and she never tries and the moment she breaks this chain, she is free. She said she is trying to break the chain and trying to aware her community about art and theatre.   

Outcome -  Theatre is not just a career option or an activity to boost confidence but it’s a way of life, it teaches

how to look at the things and feel them with the depth of emotions. It helps in expressing ourselves.